This application claims the benefit of Korean Application Nos. 97-66479, filed Dec. 6, 1997; 98-849, filed Jan. 14, 1998; 98-21401, filed Jun. 10, 1998; 98-24157, filed Jun. 25, 1998 and 98-30964, filed Jul. 30, 1998, in the Korean Patent Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical information processing field in which digitalized information is recorded/reproduced on/from a disc, and more particularly, to a disc cartridge in a drive apparatus for Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory (Hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x98DVD-RAMxe2x80x99), which has a sensor hole to be opened/closed, and to an apparatus and method for driving the same in which the sensor hole is opened/closed in accordance with an opened state of the cartridge and an inspected state of the disc.
Here, the term of the xe2x80x9copened state of the cartridgexe2x80x9d means that the disc has been withdrawn from a cartridge case to be used and returned thereto. Further, the term of the xe2x80x9cinspected state of the discxe2x80x9d means that the disc returned to the cartridge case has gone through a Certification and/or re-Certification process so that contaminations and defects of the disc are eliminated by the defect managing method suggested in corresponding specifications.
Further, the term xe2x80x9cVerificationxe2x80x9d hereinafter means one of information recording processes in which the newly recorded information is re-read and compared and checked with respect to the previously existing information to confirm that the new information is successively recorded. Also, the term xe2x80x9cCertificationxe2x80x9d hereinafter means the process which detects the defects over a predetermined area or entire area of the disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a DVD-RAM driver employs a cartridge to protect a disc from bad outside factors such as scratches, fingerprints, dirts, or the like, and to secure a safe environment for the disc while recording.
As described, employing the cartridge gives an advantage that the disc is protected, while it also brings a shortcoming that a laptop personal computer or the like has a limit in thinness, especially these days when the purchasers demand thinner products.
To meet the demand of the purchasers, i.e., to realize a thinner product, a bare disc itself has to be used. Since the bare disc has no way to be protected from scratches, fingerprints, dirts, etc., the bare disc has to go through the information Verification process in which the recorded information of the disc is verified.
Such a Verification process brings the advantage that the temporarily or permanently damaged area of the disc is detected in advance so that safety of the information is promoted. At the same time, however, it also brings the shortcoming that access time of the driver is lengthened due to the presence of the Verification process in which the recorded information is re-read and compared and checked with respect to the previously existing information to confirm that the newly recorded information is successively recorded.
Comparatively, the disc in the cartridge is protected from the scratches, fingerprints, dirts, etc., so that, once the unavailable area of the disc is checked, the recorded information can be further read without going through the Verification process, thereby having still less possible errors. Accordingly, most of the information reproducing apparatuses employ the cartridge, selecting the way of information recording which does not require the Verification process.
According to the Standard DVD-RAM specifications, three types of the cartridges are defined. In the Standard DVD-RAM specifications, the state that the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case is additionally defined, and it is defined that such state is detected by a A1 sensor hole. In a double-side disc, there provided A1 and B1 sensor holes corresponding the respective sides of the disc.
The first type cartridge receives a single-side or double-side disc whose withdrawal from the cartridge is not possible once the disc has been received. The second type cartridge receives a single-side disc which can be withdrawn from the cartridge. When the disc is withdrawn from the cartridge, the A1 sensor hole for sensing such a state is opened and never to be closed. Thus, once the disc is withdrawn from the cartridge, such a state is noticeable. The third type cartridge has the A1 sensor hole for sensing the disc withdrawal, which is initially in an open-state. Thus, the disc can be repeatedly withdrawn and returned from/to the cartridge case. Here, the cartridge includes a disc and a cartridge case. Therefore, the cartridge collectively means the cartridge case and the disc received in the cartridge case.
In the Standard DVD-RAM specifications also, it is defined that the second and third type cartridges whose discs have been withdrawn from the cartridge case are put under the same condition of the bare disc. That is, the second type cartridge having the disc once withdrawn from the cartridge case is used under the same condition with the third type cartridge, and since the discs received in these types of cartridges are thus unclear about damage from the scratches, fingerprints, dirts, etc., the disc is put under the same condition with the bare disc. Accordingly, after the recording process, the Verification process is required, and the time for information processing is lengthened.
The Table 1 below shows the three types of cartridges, and open/closed-states of A1 sensor holes respectively corresponding to the cartridges.
As shown in the above Table, the second and the third type cartridges whose discs have been withdrawn therefrom are put under the same condition with the bare disc, even though the discs are protected in the cartridge case. Thus, the user cannot take advantage of the full benefit of having the cartridges.
More specifically, when the discs in the second and the third type cartridges are withdrawn therefrom for the purpose of disc replacement, the A1 sensor holes for sensing the disc withdrawal are in the open-state. Such opened A1 sensor holes are never to be closed, and accordingly, when the new disc is received in the cartridge and the cartridge is received into the driver, it is determined from the open-state of the A1 sensor hole that the Verification process has to be performed. The problem arises in that even some discs which actually do not require the Verification process have to go through the Verification process, and the time for recording and/or reproducing the information on/from the disc is accordingly lengthened.
The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned problems, and accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a cartridge having a sensor hole to be opened/closed at a user""s will so that the disc whose states are verified to the user does not go through the Verification process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cartridge driving apparatus and method thereof in the first and the second type cartridges in which the states of the disc are verified through the open-state of the sensor hole and then the sensor hole is subsequently controlled to be closed.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cartridge having such a sensor hole to be opened/closed and a driving apparatus and method thereof.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
In order to accomplish above and other objects of the present invention, the cartridge includes a cartridge case for receiving a disc, at least one sensor hole for sensing whether the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case or not, and means for opening/closing the sensor hole in accordance with the states of the disc.
Here, the cartridge is the first or the second type cartridge defined in the standard DVD-RAM specifications, and the disc available for the cartridge is a single or double-side disc. The state of the disc means the opened state of the cartridge and the inspected state of the disc.
According to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cartridge has a cartridge case for receiving a disc, and an opening cover separably mounted to a rear side of the cartridge case while supporting the disc. At least one sensor hole is formed at the cartridge case to sense whether the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case or not. The sensor hole is opened/closed by a sensor lever in accordance with the open state of the cartridge and/or inspected state of the disc. The sensor lever is disposed at the opening cover, and has an opening/closing member disposed at the sensor hole of the cartridge case, and a tension member in contact with an inner side surface of the cartridge case and thereby giving a predetermined degree of tension thereto and positioning the opening/closing member of the sensor lever toward the open-position of the sensor hole.
Further, the cartridge according to the present invention has a locker for fixedly supporting the opening/closing member. The locker has such a structure that the opening/closing member is shifted from the open-position to the close-position when the outside force exceeding a predetermined force is exerted thereto, while the locker substantially supports the opening/closing member so as to prevent the opening/closing member from being returned to the open-state by the returning tension of the tension part of the sensor lever.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cartridge has a cartridge case for receiving a disc, an opening cover separably mounted to a rear side of the cartridge case while supporting the disc so that the disc can be withdrawn/received from/into the cartridge case, an A1 sensor hole never to be re-opened/re-closed for sensing whether the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case or not, a second sensor hole for indicating whether the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case or not, and means for opening/closing the second sensor hole in accordance with the state of the disc.
The A1 sensor hole is vertically defined through the upper and lower portions of the cartridge case, and so is the second sensor hole. A horizontal sensor hole is formed intercommunicating with the A1 sensor hole and the second sensor hole. Thus, both the driver having vertical sensor switches and the driver having horizontal sensor switches can utilize the cartridge.
An A3 sensor hole defined in the Standard DVD-RAM specifications can substitute for the second sensor hole. In this case, the means for opening/closing the sensor hole has an opening/closing member, a tension rib, and locking means. The opening/closing member is movably disposed at the opening cover, while corresponding to the A3 sensor hole and moved to an open or close position of the A3 sensor hole, thereby selectively opening the A3 sensor hole. The tension rib elastically supports the opening/closing member which has been moved to the open position of the A3 sensor hole. The locking means fixedly supports the opening/closing member which has been moved to the open position of the A3 sensor hole. The locking means has a locking projection protruded from an upper side of the opening/closing member, and a locking portion formed at an inner side of the cartridge case corresponding to the locking projection.
The opening/closing member of the sensor hole opening/closing means may extend over to the position of the A1 sensor hole. And in this case, a space corresponding to the A1 sensor hole is defined at the extended portion of the opening/closing member. Also, a tap for covering the A1 sensor hole is disposed at the space, while positioned either to an inner circumference of the space or the cartridge case. The opening/closing member is only moved in absence of the tap.
Here, the A3 sensor hole is always in a closed state when the A1 sensor hole is closed, while the A3 can be either in open state or in closed state when the A1 sensor hole is opened. Also, when the A3 sensor hole is in closed state, it means the Verification process is required while recording, while the opening of A3 sensor hole means that the Verification process is not required while recording.
When the A3 sensor hole in the Standard DVD-RAM specifications is employed as the second sensor hole, the A3 sensor hole may be positioned adjacently to a recording-prevention sensor hole, and the two sensor holes may be subsequently opened/closed. In this case, the sensor hole opening/closing means has left and right locking portions and a sensor lever. The left and right locking portions are formed adjacently to outer side ends of the A3 sensor hole and the recording-prevention sensor hole on the cartridge case. The sensor hole opening/closing means controls one of A1 and second sensor holes to the closed-state by means of the corresponding locking portion. When the sensor lever is not effected by the tension, the sensor lever is positioned at the middle position so that both of the A1 and second sensor holes are kept in the closed-state.
The sensor lever has an opening/closing member and a tension lever. The opening/closing member is capable of covering both of the adjacently formed A3 sensor hole and the recording-prevention sensor hole. The tension lever is disposed on the opening cover while supporting the opening/closing member, to return the opening/closing member to a corresponding position when the opening/closing member is opened/closed. The sensor lever has such a structure that the tension lever is automatically returned to the middle position upon re-closing of the opening cover.
Here, when the recording-prevention sensor hole is in the open-state, the A3 sensor hole is not effected therefrom, while the A3 sensor hole is either in the open-state or in the closed-state when the recording-prevention sensor hole is in the closed-state. In this case, the closed-state of the A3 sensor hole means that the Verification process is required while recording, while the open-state of the A3 sensor hole means that the Verification process is not required while recording.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cartridge has a cartridge case, an opening cover separably mounted to a rear side of the cartridge case to support the disc with respect to the cartridge case so that the disc can be withdrawn/received from/in the cartridge case, an oval sensor hole formed by integrating an open-state sensor hole and a recording-prevention sensor hole for sensing whether the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case or not, left and right locking portions adjacently formed at respective both sides of the oval sensor hole, and a sensor lever for controlling one or both of the open-state and recording-prevention sensor holes of the integrated oval sensor hole to a closed-state by means of respective corresponding locking portions. Also, the sensor lever controls both of the open-state and recording-prevention sensor holes to a closed-state while being positioned at a middle position when the sensor lever is not effected by the tension.
Another object of the present invention is accomplished by a method for driving a cartridge having the sensor hole to be opened/closed having steps of, (a) determining from an open/closed state of a sensor hole whether the sensor hole indicates a first state, i.e., whether there has been the disc withdrawal from the cartridge, (b) performing a Certification process when the sensor hole is in the first state, (c) controlling the sensor hole for a Verification process upon completion of the Certification process.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method for driving the cartridge further includes a step (d) of recording information on the disc in the absence of a Verification process upon completion of the step (c).
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method for driving the cartridge further includes a step (e) of recording the information while performing the Verification process in absence of the Certification process when the sensor hole is in the first state.
Further, the step (a) may include an additional step (a1) of informing a user that he may accelerate the information processing process by setting the sensor hole in the first state and performing the Certification process.
The Certification process is performed while maintaining previously existing information in the step (b), and if the area of defects exceeds the predetermined extent, an additional step (b1) of recommending a disc cleaning of the disc to the user may be included.
Also, the step (c) may further include a step (c1) of recommending to the user that he may accelerate the information processing process by setting the sensor hole at the inspected state, thereby not going through the Verification process. Here, the xe2x80x9cinspected statexe2x80x9d is a second state in which the sensor hole senses that the disc has not been withdrawn from the cartridge.
In the driving method described above, when the sensor hole is the A1 sensor hole of the Standard DVD-RAM specifications, the first state means the open-state and the second state means the closed-state of the A1 sensor hole.
Further, when the sensor hole is the one having the A1 sensor hole which senses the disc withdrawal from the cartridge case, and is not to be re-opened/re-closed, then the first state means the closed-state and the second state means the open-state.
Still further, when the A1 sensor hole is the one formed adjacently to the recording-prevention sensor hole of the Standard DVD-RAM specifications and is to be controlled by one sensor lever to be open/closed, then the first state means the closed-state and the second state means the open-state.
Meanwhile, the method for driving the cartridge according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention further includes a step (f) of preferentially preventing the recording as the result of giving a priority to the open-state of the recording-prevention sensor hole over the state of the A1 sensor hole.
Another object of the present invention is accomplished by an apparatus for driving the cartridge having a sensor hole to be opened/closed having a first sensor switch and a second sensor switch. The first sensor switch is turned xe2x80x98on/offxe2x80x99 by being selectively inserted into a first sensor hole of the cartridge so that the first sensor switch indicates open/closed-states of the first sensor hole by applying a predetermined signal to a microcomputer. The second sensor switch is turned xe2x80x98on/offxe2x80x99 by being selectively inserted into a second sensor hole of the cartridge which indicates open/closed-states of the cartridge so that the second sensor switch indicates open/closed-states of the second sensor hole by applying the predetermined signal to the microcomputer. Accordingly, when the first sensor hole is in the closed-state, then it is determined that the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case, so that the notice for performing the Certification process is generated. Further, when the state of the second sensor hole is determined that it is in the closed-state while the first sensor hole is in the open-state, then it is determined that the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case and that there has been no proper process performed, so that the recording is performed along with the Verification process. When the second sensor hole is in the open-state, then it is determined that the disc has been withdrawn from the cartridge case and that there has been proper processing (a defects check and cleaning) so that the recording is performed without the Verification process.